The present invention pertains to the creation of an information report as a result of a diagnostic session.
Diagnostic and information retrieval sessions performed on machines, including computers, can produce varying amounts of information about the machines. This information can range from a simple identification of a machine, to a report of whether the machine has a problem, to a detailed report of the nature and status of all the machine""s systems. Diagnostic sessions and information retrievals can be performed manually, automatically, or as a combination of the two. An example of a manual diagnostic session is when a user answers a series of queries about, for example, a computer system the user is operating. An automatic diagnostic session or information retrieval can perform an information retrieval function, for example, on a computer system by a software program residing either on the computer system, or on another system (in communication with the first system), which obtains and copies information about the computer system. This information may then be sent, for example, to an interpreter such as a technician responsible for processing the information and taking an appropriate action based on the information. The information may be sent, for example, over a network such as a Local Area Network or the Internet.
As diagnostic sessions and information retrievals performed on machines become more and more automated, they can be performed much faster. Unfortunately, however, automated diagnostic sessions performed on complicated machines have tended not to provide the precise information needed by the interpreters of these diagnostic sessions.
The interpreter of a diagnostic session examines the results to try to determine (1) whether a problem exists, and (2) the cause of any problem identified. In current systems, diagnostic session results (called xe2x80x9cinformation reportsxe2x80x9d) are either extremely simple, only identifying the machine and indicating that a problem exists, or the results are extremely complex, including information about the nature and status of all the systems of the machine. This is particularly true in the field of computers, where automatic diagnostic sessions are frequently performed when a user identifies a problem or attempts to make changes to the system (e.g. installing new hardware).
The simple information report provides very little information to the interpreter, and provides almost no assistance in solving the problem. The detailed information report provides so much information that its usefulness is impaired. Transmission of the detailed information report consumes a lot of transmission bandwidth, and storage of the detailed information report can occupy excessive system memory resources. Furthermore, the detailed information report provides excess information that the interpreter must sort in order to select the specific information needed to diagnose the problem, consuming a lot of interpreter time.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for creating an information report for a computer system comprising the steps of posing a query to obtain one of a user response and a computer information response, providing a diagnostic tree having at least one node, selecting a node on the diagnostic tree based on one of said user response and said computer information response, and based on a characteristic of the node, selecting a portion of computer information.